The 8th black wonder of the World, Senegalese center Mamadou Ndiaye (7'6, 300 pounds) and Greek tower Ioannis Dimakopoulos (7'2, 257 pounds) are on the floor. They thrashed UCSB the last time they played them in LA on Jan 31, 77-55. Tonight's game is 18 minute drive from the Irvine campus. Santa Barbara is 122 miles away. This basically a rivalry game with Irvine getting more support in the gym. Irvine is 9-2 ATS in their last 11 vs teams above .500, and 4-1 in neutral site games.
Plus, Irvine has the emotional edge, having never made the big dance. They were favored to go last year but got shocked in the Big West Tourney as the #1 seed, getting beat by #7 seed Cal-Poly. They remember that. UCSB is in for a long night tonight. Look for Will Davis to get a double-double.
IRVINE +1
Plus, Irvine has the emotional edge, having never made the big dance. They were favored to go last year but got shocked in the Big West Tourney as the #1 seed, getting beat by #7 seed Cal-Poly. They remember that. UCSB is in for a long night tonight. Look for Will Davis to get a double-double.
IRVINE +1